1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to computer systems, and more particularly to data protection in computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because computers are a daily necessity, users suffer greatly if their computer or data stored thereon is damaged due to viruses or hackers. The information technology industry, therefore, focuses great effort on methods for preventing computer data from viruses and hackers and for restoring computer data after damaged by viruses.
A computer virus is typically a short, self-replicating program segment that infects applications resident on a computer system. When the infected program is executed, the instructions of the computer virus cause the data and operating system of the computer system to malfunction. A virus may infect computer systems when an infected disk is read or when an infected file is downloaded via a network or electronic mail. The virus may infect execution files, the file allocation table (FAT), or the boot sector of a computer system. If the FAT of a computer is damaged, the computer cannot accurately locate files on a hard disk and no files can be read. If the boot sector storing operating system code is damaged, the operating system can not be loaded into main memory for execution, and the computer cannot boot.
A great number of anti-virus software applications for preventing computer viruses and hacking are currently available. Viruses, however, continue to infect computers, even if anti-virus software is installed. Thus, essential data must be backed up in advance, to prevent loss and enable restoration of said data in the event of infection by a virus.
Several methods for restoring backup data to a computer system are available. Current solutions often allocate a portion of hard disk space storing backup data. Users execute an application for backing up system data under control of the operating system. If system data is damaged, the operating system calls the application to restore backup data. If the FAT is damaged, however, the backup data stored in the hard disk cannot be retrieved, and the system data cannot be restored. If the boot sector is damaged, the operating system code cannot be loaded, and the application cannot be executed to restore backup data.